"Food for me was a connecting link to my grandmother, to my childhood, to my past. And what I found out is that for everybody, food is a connector to their roots, to their past in different ways. It gives you security; it gives you a profile of who you are, where you come from." - Lidia Matticchio Bastianich

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Friday, February 20, 2015

Gudiya has several friends with Chinese heritage. So we knew way in advance that Chinese New Year was on the way. A friend also shared her delicacy - Steamed dumpling wrapped in Bamboo leaves yesterday(I have shared the picture on Twitter).

Gudiya wanted to make something special to chime in the Chinese New Year. We thought of making Marbled eggs. I took my friend's guidance and thought it can easily be done. Personally, I don't care for eggs but I love that intricate web-like pattern that gets formed on the eggs. I wanted to try it.

I didn't have any special Chinese tea at home, so I used just the regular tea that I had at home (Ahem, Wagh Bakri Chai!)

Method
1. Bring eggs to boil. Switch gas to low and simmer for 15 minutes to get hard-boiled eggs. Switch the gas off. Cover and let it cool down completely.

2. Take one egg out at a time. Thump it delicately on a chopping board so that all the shells look cracked. DO NOT PEEL THE SHELL.

3. Repeat step 2 for all the remaining eggs.

3. Discard water in which the eggs were boil. Take fresh water, enough to submerge the eggs completely. Do not add eggs yet. Add tea powder, soy sauce, ginger, peppercorn and Chinese All Spice. Bring to boil.

4. Now, drop the eggs carefully. Simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Switch off the gas. Cover and let it stand for 4-6 hours. Make sure that the eggs are submerged uniformly.

6. Take one egg out, and start peeling off the shell.

7. Look at that beautiful pattern on egg and also on the shell.

8. You can slice the eggs, or serve it whole - sprinkle some salt and pepper if you like.

Note -
1. You can add or omit the spices (peppercorn, all spice, ginger) per your preference. But Black Tea and Soy sauce are needed for infusion.
2. Since I didn't have any fancy Chinese Tea at home, I used "Wagh Bakri" Chai. :-D